New Xbox 360 Runs Cooler, sort of.

One thing you learn in the hard drive industry is that heat is the enemy! I once witnessed a hard drive equipped surveillance system in a fast food restaurant mounted right above the deep fat fryer. And the proprietor was wondering why he was getting recurring failures! It’s not just hard drives… for virtually any advanced electronics device, excess, un-mitigated exposure to high temperatures will send a nice piece of hardware to an early grave.

So, I’d like to complement Microsoft for taking a more active role in keeping the new, slimmer Xbox 360‘s cooler.  

How? According to this CNET post, Microsoft is automatically shutting them down when they get too hot! This may annoy some people, but I’v found if I take extra care when setting up my electronics to make sure they have proper ventilation and even some additional cooling, they will serve me better for a longer period of time.  Where is your Xbox or PS3 sitting? Is all your home theater gear stacked right on top of each other in an unventilated cabinet?

Cooling. It’s an often overlooked, but very simple way to get longer life and higher reliability of your high tech toys.